A Tale Of Two Gizards
by dolphinlver11
Summary: Gizard: Someone with one parent who is a wizard and one parent who's an ancient Greek God. Follow Alex and Theresa as their lives change from normal muggle ones to lives full of adventure and surprise. Adventures currently in Hogwarts.
1. Theresa

A/N: This is a story my friend and I are currently co-writing on our website .com/ Check it out if you want :D. Updates will be post here as well though. This story will eventually be a Harry Potter-Percy Jackson crossover, but for now we are still working on the Hogwarts part. So, enjoy :)

Disclaimer: Now really, if I owned the Harry Potter or Percy Jackson series, would I be spending my time on a fanfiction website?

Theresa

Music has always been my escape. Whether I was ignoring snide comments about my love of reading and honor-student grades, on my way to archery practice while the "cool" kids went to cheerleading, or finding out one of my best friends wasn't going to the same high school as me, I could always find a song to match my emotions. Ms. Web, our school musical director, said this was a "gift," but for me it was just life.

I always knew I was, well, different from other kids. For the most part, I could relate to book characters better than real people, and was more absorbed in my studies than making friends. Sure, throughout grade school and middle school I found a handful of people I grew very close to, but no one I really connected with. Until Alex came in 7th grade. She was as crazy as I was studious, and we balanced each other out. She thought it was cool how good I was at archery, and I was amazed by her skills on the swim team. We both had a love for imaginary worlds, ones that could make us forget about our troubles in the real one. Amazingly, both of us live with our mom and step-dad, our real dads having died when we were both babies. Alex and I became best friends very quickly. But my freshman year of high school was the year everything changed.


	2. Alex

Alex

I was on my way to soccer tryouts, and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. For one thing, it was a high school team, and I was going to be a freshman. Second, none of my friends would be there, because, instead of staying at the public school for my high school years, I decided to go to a catholic one. It wasn't like I was forced to leave my friends behind, and go to a strange new school. I made the decision. I choose to go to this school. Why? I'm not sure, but it just felt right, like the school was pulling me in, like it would be better for me than my old one.

Before I elaborate, i should probably tell you a little about my background. I live at home, with my mom, stepdad(my real dad died before I was born), and three little step-sisters. I started off going to a catholic school, where I had a small class, but we were very close. When I was in 6th grade, my school closed, and i went to the public middle school in my town. It took awhile to find friends, but when I did, I knew that our friendship was the kind that would last. One of my best friends was Theresa, with whom i shared a mutual respect of fiction, and the imaginary worlds so much more interesting than our own.

I have never been one to fit in with the popular crowd. I'm too weird for them, and a little too hyper, and unlike them, I don't spend my time obsessing over boys and makeup. For one thing, i love to read, and fantasy is always top of my list. I can relate to the characters much better than the people actually around me. It doesn't bother me that I'm not popular, because I'm perfectly content with a few close friends who i can confide in, and who share some of my weirdness.

So, back to soccer. It wasn't swimming, but the swim season was over, so I had to play another sport. I am athletic, and a fast runner, but swimming is where I feel I belong. I love being in the water; it refreshes me, and gives me a rush of adrenaline perfect for winning races. I like playing other sports too, but only for the sport. The social aspect never really appealed to me. No matter what sport it was, everyone seemed to know each other extremely well, and I was the outsider. It wasn't too bad on the playing field, because I knew what i had to do, and executed it well. But if we ever had a team party, I was forced to sit there silently, absorbed in my own thoughts, rather than speak and receive the judgmental looks from everyone around. Oh, and I hate sitting still. Talking is something I do a lot, and I am naturally loud and hyper, which isn't always a good thing. It's perfect for sports, but try taking a test or reading a nonfictional book over 300 pages when you can't concentrate because your mind keeps wandering.

I knew I was different, but I thought being different was a good thing. It turns out I may have been mistaken.


	3. Alex Tryouts

Alex- Tryouts

As i exited the car, and made my way onto the field for tryouts, my heart was pounding. I was prepared; I had on all of my gear, a bag with whatever I might need, and i had drunk as much water as my stomach could take with all the butterflies. I noticed that all of the girls were standing in their little groups, and although I had been expecting it, still made me feel uncomfortable. I sat down on the edge of one of the groups and was planning to join in on their conversation when a girl sat down next to me. I looked over at her, and gave a little start. Unlike all of the other girls here, who were of a slender, athletic build, this girl was large and bulky, and not the prettiest of girls. I suddenly found myself thinking how I could get away from her, before people marked me as her friend. Then iIcaught myself, and the waves of guilt washed over me. I smiled and said hi to her, but didn't have time to elaborate because the coach called us out onto the field. We stretched, and did some warm up drills. Then the coach made us run. We printed back and forth along the field. I did well at first, but as my thirst for my water bottle only a few feet away became greater, my legs became wobbly and my pace slowed. With a look to my side, I saw the girl who had sat down next to me; she was last, and by the looks of it had been lapped at least twice.

Finally, we stopped, but to my great disappointment were not allowed to get a drink. We moved right along to stations, one shooting, one passing, etc, while the coach came around making notes on his clipboard. When it was finally my group's turn to get a drink, we hobbled over to our bags. I gulped my water and felt immediately energized. We waited out our turn by watching the other girls at the stations. The other girls started laughing and when I looked over I saw they were pointing at the girl whom I mentioned earlier. "Come on, guys" i said.

They looked around and when they had confirmed that I had done the talking, looked at each other. One of the girls, obviously the leader, said, "What, are you actually her _friend_?"

"No" I said quickly, but then gained courage and said, "But you don't need to make fun of her."

She looked at me like I was a piece of disgusting dog poop.

The coach blew the whistle, and the stations ended and everyone came together for a scrimmage. I had to keep blinking hard to keep the tears from coming. Stupid tears. Why did I always have to cry when I was angry? The scrimmage began, and I was pleased that once it started, my eyes stopped watering, i focused on the game, and did pretty well. That is, until I looked over and saw the same girls, surrounded my more girls this time, pointing and laughing. Only this time, they were pointing at _me. _Unable to control myself, I actually screamed, and at the same moment, the water jug filled with Gatorade right next to where the girls were standing exploded.

Woah. that was really really weird. And now instead of feeling angry, I became immensely confused. It was mixed, though, with a bit of humor as the girls were now freaking out because they were completely covered in the sticky liquid.

The coach decided to end the tryouts then, with a promise to email us the results as soon as he made the final decision. And with that, my mom arrived, and I left, but not without a smile and "goodbye" to the larger girl who I now found out was named Leah, and making it extremely obvious to everyone who had laughed with their ignorance, not caring that I had probably just made myself the second most unpopular kid on the team.

A/N: Sorry the chapters have been so short. I promise they will get longer! These are just some annoying explanations we have to get out of the way, but soon they will be longer.


	4. Theresa The Letter

Theresa- The letter

_Twang._

Another shot, another bull's eye. It's amazing how natural I am with a bow and arrow, something people normally struggle with if they ever try. But ever since I first picked one up, I've been able to make perfect shots. Just another one of my weird talents that keeps me away from the "popular" crowd. I didn't care about them though; the friends I have are great. Speaking of friends, it was time for me to go meet Alex at her house to go swimming. I packed up my archery gear, plugged in my ipod headphones, and jumped on my bike. My ipod had a depressingly low amount of memory left for new music; I needed a big one with more space. The 500 songs my ipod Shuffle can hold just isn't enough.

My stop at home to grab a bathing suit was a little more eventful than I had anticipated. My mom was waiting at the door for me to come home and practically tackled me with a hug when I came in.

"It finally came!" She squealed into my ear. "I wasn't sure if you would make it because of your dad but you did! It's here, you're going!"

"Mom, calm down!" I pried her arms off me and took a step back. "What are you talking about? What came? What about my dad? Where am I going?"

Mom was practically jumping up and down in excitement, and started rambling on about something a mile a minute that I couldn't follow. "To Hogwarts! To England! Oh, I guess we'll have to stop at Diagon Alley, get you fitted for robes."

"Mom." I tried to interrupt her to figure out what the heck she was talking about, but she didn't slow down.

". . . stop by to see Ollivander, gosh I haven't seen him since I was 14!"

"Mom."

"This is so exciting! Maybe we'll get you an animal. Would you like a cat, owl, or toad? Don't say toad, no one has those anymore, but of course it's completely your decision. Oooo, I wonder what house you'll be in? I was a Ravenclaw, but families aren't always in the same houses. Who knows, with your father you might be a Gryffindor. No, you're gonna be in Ravenclaw, your ancestor... "

"Mom! _What _are you talking about? England? Olive-who? Owls? Ravendoor? Griffinclaw?Hog-_what?" _Normally I can talk to Mom about almost anything, but she was just not making any sense.

"Raven_claw, _Gryffin_dor, _and Hog_warts_, honey. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It's where I went to school, and where you'll go to school now, too. It's for people who are magic. I'm a witch, Theresa, and so are you." She held out a letter to me.

Now I was utterly confused, and starting to think Mom had gone off the deep end. Glancing at her, I took the letter. I read it through, then again, then again, then the enclosed list of supplies. I couldn't believe my eyes. The letter looked like a normal boarding school acceptance letter, but talked about owls and warlocks, witches and wizards, and something called a "Dumbledore." The "school supplies" included books about potions and spells and transfigurations, a _wand_, a cauldron, and the uniform was black robes and a pointed black hat.

"Am I on some hidden camera show?" Was the first sentence I was able to form.

Mom laughed and shook her head. "Nope, this is really happening. So, I'm sure you have a lot of questions, like what kind of magic you'll learn, what kind of wand you'll get, or which brand of dragon scales is the best-"

"Actually Mom, I think I just need some time to, uh, think about all this new stuff. So, I'm going to Alex's, I'll be back in a few hours." With that, I turned and walked out the door before my mom tried to introduce me to magical talking leprechauns and teach me how to ride a broom.

By the time I got to Alex's, I was still befuddled out everything, but tried to ignore it. Alex opened the door with a cheerful "hey, what took you so long?"

I laughed. "If I told you why I was late, you'd never believe me. Come on, let's go swimming."

As we walked through her house to the backyard, something caught my eye. Two pieces of paper lying on an otherwise blank table. I stopped for a second and looked at them.

Alex got the same letter.


	5. Alex Filler

Alex- Filler

I was babbling on about how I haven't been to a pool in almost a week, when I realized the absence of Theresa's footsteps behind me. I turned to see her eyes focused on the letter lying on my dining room table. "Oh yeah," I said, "that came in the mail today. Its probably someone pulling a joke, but I was gonna ask my mom about it when she got home." That was one thing I could count on; my mom always seemed to know everything.

Theresa was alternating between staring at me and the letter, until finally she said hesitantly "I... I got the same one"

"Do you think its real?"

"My mom sure does. She says she went there. But I didn't press her; I just came over here."

"Do you wanna go ask her about it?" I was starting to get antsy. This is what happens whenever I get too excited. I start freaking out on the inside and I can't sleep or sit still.

Theresa didn't need to say anything; the look on her face plainly said she didn't want to go back to her house just now, and I wasn't eager to broach the subject.

We took our bikes, and rode down to the pool. The whole time my mind was buzzing about the letter. What if it was real? What if there actually was another world that existed right along with our own, and I was about to become a part of it? I tried not to get too excited, because I knew that the chances were that it didn't exist, and I wanted to save myself from the inevitable disappointment. But what if it _was _real? _No._ It wasn't, just someone's idea of a joke. Finally, we arrived at the pool, and the internal argument would have to wait.

We laid down our things on a spot on the grass, and took off our clothes concealing our swimsuits. I ran down to the pool and jumped straight in, spraying some people around. The water felt soooo nice; this pool was always the perfect temperature. When I surfaced, i saw Theresa by the pool's edge, sticking her feet in. "It's freezing!" she said, when I asked why she hadn't jumped in yet.

"Baby," I said, teasing. I thought about pulling her in, but decided against it. She would eventually make her way in. And she did, not to long after. We swam around for a little, and then, because they called "Adult Swim" (a stupidly pointless time where kids under the age of 18 are kicked out of the pool) we sat on the edge.

The sunlight felt good against my wet skin, and I found myself zoning out into a daydream about life as a wizard. I snapped out of it when I heard Theresa calling my name. "Sorry," I said. I was about to ask how much longer she wanted to stay here when a few boys wolf-whistled towards us. I didn't know them, so all I offered was a glare in their direction. Not taking the hint, they walked up and sat on either side of us. "What?" I snapped.

"I like your swimsuit," was all he offered.

I stood up. "We were just leaving" and with that, I walked away, taking Theresa with me. Normally, I wouldn't have been so mean, but I wasn't in the mood. I had other things on my mind. And I wasn't stupid. If we had run into those boys on any other occasion, they wouldn't have been interested in the slightest. They were only interested in us because of what we were wearing.

We grabbed our things, got on our bikes and rode towards Theresa's house.


	6. Alex Discovering

Alex- Discovering

We arrived at Theresa's house in a couple of minutes, and entered to find her mom muttering under her breath. She was perusing a bunch of scrap books filled with pictures. A closer look showed that the pictures were moving. Wait, what? Last time I checked pictures didn't move.

"Good, Treesie, your home. I was just looking through-" Theresa's mom began, but stopped abruptly when she looked up and saw me there. "Oh, its you." I should probably say that for some unknown reason, her mom didn't like me very much.

"Mom, chill, whatever joke this means, Alex got a letter too."

Her mom's eyes widened. "You did? I always knew I liked you for a reason. Is your mom a witch too? Or are you a... muggle born?" She said, and then added quickly, "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Woah mom, back up. Muggle born? We obviously don't know what the heck your talking about. Start from the beginning."

Her mom then proceeded to explain, that some human beings are born witches and wizards, and that they go to Hogwarts (a school of magic) to be trained. Of course, there are other schools, but they're not important. There are seven years at Hogwarts, from 14 to 21 years of age. Witches and wizards must purchase a wand from a wand-maker to do spells. Muggle is a term for a non-magical person, and sometimes, their children can be wizards. You will be learning transfiguration, potions, charms, herbology, defense against the dark arts, and other classes you can choose from such as arithmancy, care of magical creatures, divination, ancient runes, and muggle studies. Diagon Alley is a place to buy all of your wizarding needs like robes and broomsticks, and it is also home of the wizarding bank. There, you can also buy animals like owls, cats, and toads, although toads are for losers. Owls are a wizards form of mail; instead of using cell phones or email, they send letters delivered by owls. She ended by saying that she would take us both on a trip to Diagon alley soon, where we would buy all we need. Then we could pack, and on September 1, its all aboard the Hogwarts express.

"So we're going to be flying a plane to and from England quite a lot?" I asked.

"No. Why would you think that? Oh! I forgot to tell you how us wizards and witches get around. It's called apparating. It's sort of like teleporting from one place to another. You can't do it by yourselves until you come of age and get your license, but if you hold on to me, you can do side-along-apparition."

So it was settled, a week from today, we would take a trip to Diagon alley, come home, pack, and a fortnight later, we would take the Hogwarts express, to a beginning of a brand new life.

"One more thing" I said to Theresa's mom, "could you explain all of this to my parents?"


	7. Theresa Diagon Alley

Theresa- Diagon Alley

My mouth was wide open in astonishment as I stared at the shops and people around me. To my right was a menagerie filled with meowing cats, croaking frogs, and hooting owls of all colors, sizes, and breeds that were audible even from the street. To my left was a popular looking shop advertising flying brooms. Alex was by my side practically jumping up and down from excitement, and I have to admit, now that I know it's real, I'm pretty ecstatic about the whole experience myself. The people passing us on the streets were wearing weird get-ups of long robes and your stereotypical witch's hats. As if the Alley itself wasn't weird enough, the way we got here was the most bizarre experience I had ever gone through. After my mom explained everything to Alex's parents, Alex came over, and we left. My mom said it's called "Apparating," but it's not something I suggest if your looking to travel comfortably. Since we aren't of age yet, Mom took Alex and I on side-along apparition; she grabbed our hands, took a little side step, and it felt like I was being pulled through a straw. When I could breath again, I looked around and we were in a completely different town. Alex, being her usual spazzy self, was rolling on the ground freaking out and screaming "What was that? What happened? I love you ground! I need some water!"

"That's apparating for ya," was all Mom had to say about the subject. Once Alex calmed down, we turned a corner and went into a dinky looking shop.

"Why are we going into a pub?" I asked.

"This is the Leaky Cauldron. It's kind of the gateway to Diagon Alley."

The bell on the door jingled as we entered the tiny shop. The bartender looked up at us from cleaning a glass and beamed. "Why, if it isn't Marissa Wren! I haven't seen you in ages! How have you been? And who are these two lovelies? Your daughters, I presume?"

"Tom! It's great to see you, too! Yes, this is my daughter Theresa and her friend Alex. I'd love to stay and chat, but we've got quite a lot of shopping to do!" My mother replied.

"Alright, you girls have fun." He turned to us. "You two are gonna have the time of your lives. Hogwarts is the greatest thing known to wizards." We smiled, then walked with Mom to the back of the shop, where she pulled out her wand, yes _wand_, and tapped on a brick. I didn't think it had done anything at first, until the bricks started to clear away, moving on their own accord, and reveal a passage way. And here we are now, staring at the magical shopping plaza that is Diagon Alley.

"Well, first thing first, we should stop at Gringotts and get you money. In the wizarding world, there are three types of coins. Bronze Knuts, silver Sickles, and gold Galleons. One Sickle is equal to 29 Knuts, and one Galleon is equal to 17 Sickles or 493 Knuts. And don't worry Alex, you can trade in Muggle money for Wizarding money. After Gringotts, we can go to Ollivander's and get your wands." We walked up to a huge store, the biggest one in the Alley. It was very grand and majestic looking. Once inside the marble doors, I nearly laughed out loud in surprise. The place seemed to be run by midgets with very large ears.

"Goblins," Mom whispered to Alex and me. "You don't want to get on their bad side; they can have quite a nasty temper." Mom then walked up to the counter and spoke to one of the goblins. "Hello, we'd like to exchange Muggle money and visit vault 763, please." The goblin just grunted in reply and took the stack of cash my mom handed to him that Alex's mom gave her.

"Can you believe what's happening right now?" I said excitedly to Alex. "We're in a magical alley. Trading money for gold. Getting helped by goblins. Next we're going to get our own wands!"

"I know! This is soo cool!"

The goblin returned with a sack full of gold, silver, and bronze coins. "Alright, follow me for vault 763." He said in a gruff voice. We followed him down to what looked like a mining shack, where he climbed into a mining cart.

"What, do we go digging for our own gold coins now?" Alex whispered to me. I laughed, and we both followed my mom into the cart. It was a tight squeeze, but we all fit. The cart started moving, faster, faster, until everything we were passing looked like a blur. We stopped suddenly, and were nearly flung out of the cart. Alex and I watched in fascination as the goblin got out and unlocked the door to a vault. Inside were piles of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. My mom exited the cart too, and began filling her own sack with coins.

"Wait, all this money is ours?" I asked, dumbfounded. Back home, we lived in a modest home in a modest town. Why hadn't we turned this into muggle money? I guess it's better for me now though.

"Technically, this is all yours. I don't really have much use for it in the muggle world, do I? You can't exchange Wizarding coins, the way you can muggle money. There, that should be enough for today. We can come back later to get money for the rest of the year." Mom and the goblin rejoined us in the cart, and we made our way back above ground.

"Next stop, Ollivander's." Mom said when we had exited Gringotts.

"Omygosh omygosh magic wand time!" Alex squealed.

"Do we get to pick what it looks like and stuff? Like what type of wood it is? They look cooler than just regular sticks, right?" I asked my mom, excited to get my first real magical item. But Mom just looked at me like I had two heads.

"Choose? You don't choose the wand, honey, the wand chooses you." Wait, what?

We entered the shop and looked around at all the boxes lining the wall. Long, narrow boxes. Seriously, there was almost nothing in the shop except boxes. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them. An old man stepped out from around the corner; he had wiry white hair, spectacles, and a bit of a deranged look.

"Marissa Wren. Vine, 12 inches, dragon heartstring core. Supple, with a nice springy feel. Good for transfiguration." The man greeted us.

Mom smiled at him. "Right as always, Mr. Ollivander. This is my daughter, Theresa, and her friend Alex. They're here to buy their own wands."

"Ah, well let's get started then, shall we? You, in the pink shirt, you're first." I stepped up to him, and he bent down to look in my eyes. He had creepy, silvery eyes. "Now then," he muttered to himself. "Where to begin?" He walked away from me over to the boxes lining the wall. "Aha. Let's try this one, mahogany, 13 inches, unicorn hair."

I took the wand, and raising it awkwardly at my side, pointed it at Mr. Ollivander.

"Good heavens, never point your wand at me! I don't want my head being blown off! But no matter, that wand is no good for you anyway." He snatched the mahogany wand back from me.

"Sorry sir," I mumbled.

"No need to be sorry, the wand chooses the wizard after all. Try this, beechwood, 9 inches, dragon heartstring core." Almost immediately after handing me it, he took it back.

This went on for about five more minutes, until he handed me one that had a little bendy squiggle towards the tip. It was dark brown, with horizontal yellow strips running up it.

"Try this one, willow, 10 1/2 inches, unicorn hair core. Nice and swishy." Instantly upon taking it, I could feel a connection to the wand, almost as if it was an extension to my arm, not just a piece of wood I was holding. The tip sparked a little bit, and Mr. Ollivander clapped his hands.

"Yes, this one is perfect for you. It's good for charm work. Now, will the other young lady please stepped up." Alex tried about 10 wands, none of which Mr. Ollivander was happy with. "A challenge! No worry, one will find you."

"Always the problem child." I whispered to Alex. She laughed, and accepted the next wand Ollivander held out to her. I could tell she felt the same connection to this wand I had felt with mine, and Mr. Ollivander could tell, too.

"Excellent," he said. "That is also willow, 9 inches, shorter than average, with a phoenix feather core. Phoenix feather cores are rare and powerful, and this wand will be perfect for charms."

We paid for our wands and left the shop, off to buy our other magical school supplies.


	8. Alex Diagon Alley

Alex- Diagon Alley

Wow. My mind was still processing all that was going on. I was holding a bag with my wand in it (I didn't want to put it down, but figured it would be weird to constantly hold a wand in your hand, although it wasn't like i hadn't seen plenty of weird things today.) Ollivander was a creepy guy, but it was impossible to buy a wand from him and not feel some kind of respect towards him. How can he possibly remember every single wand he's sold? I was happy with my wand. It was a dark brown, and felt perfect in my hand. I could almost feel the power radiating from it, despite Ollivander's telling us that wands are only a way to channel a wizard's power. I wanted to start doing spells right away, despite nearly blowing all of the wands off the shelves from holding the wrong wands.

"Next stop, Flourish and Blotts" said Mrs. Carver. Flourish and Blotts was a large bookstore where we were to buy our school books. We bought books such as "A History of Magic", and textbooks for the classes we were going to take.

Next, we stopped at Eeylop's Owl Emporium, a place to buy magical pets. Well, the animals weren't magic, but they were owned by witches and wizards. There were owls flying around in large cages that fit about 10 owls each, rats, toads, and cats. "We need to buy you an owl!" Theresa's mom told her. "Unless of course you prefer another animal."

"An owl is great." Theresa said. We looked around at the owls, until one caught her eye. "Ooooooh" she said. She was pointing to a small owl, with multi-colored feathers. It was really, really cute, although I wasn't sure how it would be able to hold up anything more than a letter. But when they asked the store owner to get the owl down, it landed right on Theresa's shoulder. Needless to say, no other owl had a possibility of coming home with us.

We went into a few stores buying school supplies and checking them off our lists. I found it a little strange that we had to buy quills and ink when we could just write in pens. And I was a little concerned when I saw all of the potions ingredients we would be using. If the questionable fluids in jars along the wall weren't enough, the whole place smelled like a sewer, bad food, and dead animals mixed in one. _And_ there were dead _spiders_ in our potions kit, which means we are going to have to touch them! I'm not scared of much, but if an insect or spider comes within visible range of me, I have to leave because of fear. I hate being afraid of them so much, but I can't get rid of the fear, and just thinking of them sends an involuntary shiver down my spine.

While walking along the Alley, we came across a very interesting looking store. It was by far the most colorful store in the alley, and it's windows were filled with posters of rather funny looking cartoon people making funny faces. The people had obviously been duped into taking something that turns their heads purple or made their hands really big. One depicted a bright yellow canary holding a cream puff. A giant sign above the door read "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes." "Can we go in?" I asked.

"Sure," Mrs. Carver answered, "I'll have to stay outside with your new owl though. I don't think he would like all of the noise and commotion in there. This store wasn't around when I was in Hogwarts. I remember the Weasley twins though." She laughed to herself. "I bet it will be very interesting inside."

Theresa and I left her mom outside with our newly purchased things and went inside.

I literally gasped when I walked in the door. The walls were completely lined with boxes of joke items, with displays on every shelf. There were tables set up all over the store with funky looking juices, perfumes, and cages with little puff balls. After a second, I could tell that they were alive. Little figures on brooms were flying around the room, shouting random phrases, and occasionally throwing things at customers. We made our way to an intriguing little table with beauty supplies. It was hard to remind myself that I had a limited amount of money to spend, especially when I saw a "Ten second pimple remover." At another table, Theresa seemed particularly interested in a mini bow-and-arrow that when you clicked a button, it shot a little candies at people. You could choose what kind of candy to load it with; it ranged from nougats that made one's nose bleed, candy that gave the eater explosive farts, and so many more strange possibilities. "That's awesome!" I said.

"I know!" said Theresa. "It's a bow and arrow!" I wasn't even going to comment on how the whole point wasn't the appearance. "How much is it?" she asked.

"It doesn't say. I'll go ask an employee if you want though." I took the arrow in my hand, and walked to the back of the room where a checkout desk was. Beside it, was a man with red hair, in a suit with a name tag that labeled him the owner. He was standing next to a man with messy black hair and glasses; the latter's son was standing next to him, clutching bags that were probably filled with school supplies.

"Excuse me," I said to the owner. "Could you tell me how much this is?"

"That? Oh yes, that's a fun one there. Three galleons," he answered. When he looked at me, I almost gasped; he only had one ear. Where the other one should be, there was only a hole.

"Thanks." I said quickly, hoping he didn't notice my staring.

"So, are you girls starting at Hogwarts this year?" I was thankful that he didn't acknowledge my awkwardness. We said yes, and he replied "So is my nephew here. Why don't you all go and get to know each other. Come on, don't be shy. Just stay away from the love potions." He winked, and the boy blushed.

We laughed, and it seemed as though he wanted to have a talk with the man with glasses, so we moved aside with the boy following us. "I'm Alex." I said. Theresa introduced herself to him also.

He replied "I'm James." A semi-awkward silence followed, while we watched a cage full of Pygmy puffs-the sign indicated the name- which were the little puff balls. They came in bright colors, and seemed to waddle around in a way that was way too adorable.

One of the Pygmy puffs climbed over another, and fell on its back. We all laughed, but fell into silence again. I was thinking about what to say, and finally settled on "So are you excited about going to Hogwarts?" It was a question with an obvious answer, but I figured it would start conversation, and it did.

James replied, "Yeah, from what my dad says it sounds like the coolest place in the world. Did your parents go there, because it sounds like you're not from around here." Now would probably be a good time to mention what was implied; since we are from America, we have American accents, unlike everyone here because we are somewhere in Britain. I'm not sure exactly where, since we apparated, therefor not passing any signs.

Theresa answered him "My mom went there before she moved to America. But I only just found out it even existed."

He nodded, and when he looked at me I said "Nope. My parents are-" I paused, searching my memory for the right word "muggles," I finished.

"Oh." he said, and it looked as though he had finally put together some information. "That's cool. From what I hear that's pretty common." He stopped, and looked on the verge of saying something. "So you wouldn't be familiar with any wizard news or history?" He asked with a weird tone.

"No," Theresa and I said.

James smiled, which was really weird. He looked oddly happy, relieved, and curious about something that seemed beyond any one's means of understanding besides his own. Before anything else could be said between the three of us, his dad walked over and put his hand on his son's shoulder. "We ought to be going. Your mother will be waiting," he said. He flashed us a small smile, and when we smiled back, a bemused look appeared on his face.

"Good-bye," James said to us. "I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express." We said good-bye, and waved.

When they had left the store, Theresa and I looked at each other. "What was that about?"

"I'm not sure," she said. "But he was kind of cute, wasn't he?" I laughed, but was taken aback. Theresa wasn't usually the one to notice that sort of thing.

Anyway, we left the store-after Theresa bought the mini bow-and-arrow-and started making our way back to the Leaky Cauldron. However, we made a slight detour. In the window of a book publisher called "Wizz Hard Books" a certain book caught my eye. "Can we go in?" I asked Theresa's mom.

We ended up going in mostly because of Theresa's love of books. Her mom wasn't going to, because it wasn't really a book store. It only sold a few copies of some books that other stores didn't take. Inside, The store owner seemed surprised to have anyone inside. "What can I help you with?" He asked.

"Are these books for sale?" I asked.

"Yes, and at a very good price. People don't usually buy them, although I can't imagine why." I walked over and picked up a book called "Dueling, and Every Spell You'll Need". I quick search inside it showed that it was simply a book with a list of spells, how to use them, and what they do. _Why not? _I figured, it might prove itself useful, and to be honest, I was really really intrigued. I bought the book, along with a book titled "A Glossary of Useful Spells". There seemed to be a pattern among books sold here. Theresa bought a book with some short stories in it, but I didn't pay enough attention to it to know more.

We payed, and left, satisfied with our shopping, and even more excited to get to Hogwarts, and the beginning of our new life.


	9. Theresa Hogwarts Express

Theresa- Hogwarts Express

It's been a week since our trip to Diagon Alley, and now Alex, my mom, and I were back in England at King's Cross station, staring at a brick wall.

"Just walk through," Mom was urging us. "Really, you're not going to run into it."

Alex and I looked at each other in disbelief. "I'll go if you go." She said. I nodded, "On three. One, two, three." I shut my eyes and took two steps forward. Then another. And another. Really, I should be running into a wall right now. One more step and I opened my eyes and gasped. We had walked into a giant train platform (Platform 9 3/4, I figured. At least that's what the ticket says.) All around us, oddly dressed people, _wizards_, were hugging families goodbye and greeting friends they hadn't seen since last year. A gleaming scarlet train was waiting to leave, it's whistle blowing.

"You girls better hurry and find a compartment before they're all taken." I turned around to see my mom and Alex were behind me. Alex was staring at the platform with the same dumbfounded look on her face I'm sure was on mine. "Hurry now, the train's about to leave."

"K, let's go." I said. With a final farewell to my mom, Alex and I boarded the Express.

We were walking down the aisle looking for a free compartment when we heard our names being called.

"Alex, Theresa!" James, the kid from the shop in Diagon Alley, was walking down the aisle towards us.

"Hey," I smiled at him. "Are you looking for a compartment, too?"

"Yea, and we might as well look together, I doubt there's gonna be many left."

We walked past compartment after compartment, but each one was already occupied by older kids. Some even looked like they were young adults. Finally, we found one that only had one other kid in it, and he looked our age.

"Hi," Alex said, stepping in first. The boy looked up from the book he was reading. "Is it ok if we sit here? No other places are empty."

He smiled. "Sure, no problem. Here, let me help you with your bags." He took Alex's suitcase, James took mine, and they put them on the racks at the ceiling.

We sat back down, and I turned to look at the boy. He had short chocolate brown hair, a few shades lighter than James' (though his hair was no where near as unruly as James'), and baby blue eyes. "I'm Mark Steinberg," he said.

"Theresa Carver," I replied.

"Alex Devon."

"James." Strangely, he didn't say his last name, and it occurred to me I didn't know it.

"I don't mean to sound rude but, you two aren't from here, are you? American, right?" Mark asked. That makes our total amount of new British students met: 2, and British students who pointed out our accents: 2. I sense a pattern here.

"Yep, we're from New Jersey." The train had started moving by now, and my new little owl, Hermes, was hooting indignantly at the noise from his cage on my lap.

He smiled at us. "Ah, genuine Yankees." Then he turned James, and looked at him in what seemed to be adoration. But it couldn't be, they just met. "And am I right in guessing you're James Potter, as in son of _the _Harry Potter?" Wait, what?

"Yea," James mumbled. Whatever they were talking about, he didn't seem to be too happy about it.

"Bloody hell, that's awesome! Your dad must be the coolest guy! Is it fun, having him as a father?"

"Wait a sec- _what_ are you guys talking about?" Alex asked. At least I wasn't the only one who was super confused.

Mark looked surprised at this. "What, you mean you don't know? What kind of stuff do they teach in American history?"

I groaned. "Lots and lots of Revolutionary War. I don't know who this Harry Potter guy is, but say any Revolutionary War battle and I could tell you the general." I realized after saying this it probably wasn't the best war to bring up with Brits.

He waved his hand, as if dismissing the thought. "Rubbish. The only important history you'll need at this school is about this bloke's family history," he said, pointing at James.

"Really? Why? Are you guys celebrities or something?" I thought back to Diagon Alley. James' dad seemed like a normal guy.

"No, nothing like that," James replied.

"You really don't know anything about wizarding history?" Mark asked, though it seemed more like a statement. "Well, like 30 years ago, there was this really, really Dark wizard, Voldemort. This bloke went on a killing rampage for almost 15 years, killing muggles, wizards, anyone he could get his hands on. Well, mainly muggles or muggle-borns, he really hated them. And of course, they had no idea what was going on. He had a group of followers called Death Eaters, who did most his dirty work for him, unless the kill was especially important."

"Death Eaters?" Alex interrupted. "Lovely name. They're breath must've smelled delicious."

Mark chuckled. "I bet. Anyway, one day, Voldemort heard a prophecy that a young baby born at the end of July would one day destroy him. That baby, was Harry Potter. Well, Old Voldie went to the Potter's house one night to kill the baby before he had a chance to grow up. He killed his dad easy enough-"

"How?" I asked. "Did he use like, a gun, knife? Wouldn't the muggle police get suspicious of a whole bunch of murders happening around them?"

"He used an Unforgivable Curse. There's three of them, one gives the spell caster complete control over the victim, one tortures the victim, and the third kills them. Getting caught using them guarantees you a life time sentence in Azkaban. Wizard prison," he explained, seeing our confused expressions. "Guarded by soul-sucking monsters called Dementors. Not fellows you want to mess with.

The Killing Curse leaves no evidence, so the muggle police were baffled. Anyway, Voldemort got rid of Harry's dad, and went to go take care of the baby. But Harry's mom wouldn't let him get the baby, so Voldemort killed her, too. But sacrificing herself had given Harry an age old protection, and when Voldemort tried the Killing Curse on him, it rebounded back and hit Voldie. He was reduced to almost nothing, a spirit or something. And Harry got this cool lightning-bolt shaped scar. That was the last anyone heard of Voldemort for years.

But really, he was just regaining his power and followers (Death Eaters had all gone into hiding). In Harry's 7th year at Hogwarts (but back then, you started Hogwarts at age 11 and ended at 17, unlike now when its 14-21, so he was only 17), Voldemort came back. There was this huge battle at Hogwarts, that ended with Harry killing Voldemort for good, by making his own spell rebound back again. And now, here we are, in an age without a psychotic-monster-killing-machine-bloke (and what a blessing that is), all because of this guy's old man." Mark finished his story by pointing at James, who was staring out the window at the passing countryside.

"Wow," was all I could say. "So we can basically thank your dad for being, you know, alive right now? That's pretty cool."

"I guess," James said. "But what everyone fails to mention is the fact that Voldemort came back before that battle, and tried to kill my dad every one of his school years. But when he tried to tell people, they all called him crazy and treated him like an outcast. Or that he had to drop out of school after his 6th year to live as a fugitive, chased by Death Eaters every other week. Or that he had to watch so many of his friends die in a battle that was fought because of him. It wasn't a glory-filled life like everyone makes it out to be." He ended bitterly. Things got pretty awkward after this. I racked my brain trying to think of something to break the tension. Luckily, Alex came to the rescue.

"Soooo, how are classes divided here? Are there, like two sets of teachers, with half the students going to one set and the other half going to the other set? That's how our muggle school is."

Mark and James both seemed to perk up at this question. "Well, when we arrive at Hogwarts, the first years get sorted into houses, based on your personality. Your house pretty much becomes your family. Then each house gets a schedule, and you go to all your classes with them. You might have potions with one house, charms with another." Mark said.

"That's cool," I remarked. "What are the houses like? And what do you mean by 'sorted into by personality'?"

"Well, you put on the Sorting Hat, and it kind of reads your personality. I don't really know how to put it. There are four houses."

"Gryffindor," James said. "'Where dwell the brave at heart.' Definitely where I want to end up. Only the bravest and chivaroulous-est make it. My mum, dad, and all my aunts and uncles were in Gryffindor." I assumed this was a house, since the word sounded like complete nonsense. Oh wait, hadn't Mom talked about houses a bit?

"Yea, Gryffindor would be cool," Mark agreed. "But I've always had a fancy for Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw house is made up of those with the most intellect, cleverness, and wit. My parents were there."

"Do you always go where your family went? Because I think my mom said she was in Ravenclaw." I asked.

"Well, not necessarily, but most times you do." James replied. "My dad's best mate was in Gryffindor, while his entire family, going back decades, had been Slytherin." He made a face. "There's a house you _don't _want to be in. They say what you need for Slytherin is to be cunning, but really you just need to be evil. There isn't a single wizard who's gone bad who hasn't been from Slytherin." He looked around at the rest of us and smiled. "You all seem decent now, but if any of you are in Slytherin, I swear I'm never talking to you again."

We all laughed, but secretly I was praying I wasn't in Slytherin. I mean, I don't _think_ I'm evil, but who knows what this "Sorting Hat" would think. There's no way I'm losing the friends I just made. "The last house is Hufflepuff." Mark concluded.

Alex giggled. "That's an exceptionally silly name. What the hell is a Hufflepuff?"

James shrugged. "No one's really sure. The traits you need are like, patience and friendship or something."

The rest of the train ride went by in a happy blur. We talked and joked until the lunch cart came (they call it a _trolly_- silly Brits), where Mark and James treated us to a bunch of delicious but weird candy, like Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (literally every flavor- Alex didn't seem so stoked about the ear wax one she got) and chocolate frogs that started hopping. After eating, we talked and laughed some more. Finally, the sun started to set and we changed into our robes, pulling up to the Hogwarts station a few minutes later.


	10. Alex Destination: Hogwarts

Alex- Destination: Hogwarts

The train pulled to a stop. Leaving our suitcases behind (a voice called down the corridor and told us to leave them in our compartments; they would be brought to school for us), we exited the train. I guess I didn't notice all of the pointing and whispering before, but now that I knew about James' dad, it was unmistakable. People would do a double-take at James, and then turn to the person next to them, most likely to confirm their suspicions. He wasn't liking the attention, which i thought was strange. Maybe it had something to do with being famous for something he didn't do, like maybe he feels he doesn't deserve the credit. Whatever the reason, I made a mental note to bring it up with him later.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" I turned to see where the voice was coming from, and gasped. A little bit away, a _giant_ man was holding a lantern and calling for all the first years to follow him. I mean, he was HUGE! He had to be at least twice as tall as a normal man, and four times as wide. I turned to see Mark and Theresa gaping at the man as i was, while James' face suddenly lit into a smile.

"Come on" James said, strolling forward to the giant. The man had a big gray beard and long hair, and when he saw James, his face resembled one who was reuniting with a long-lost family member.

"JAMES!" he yelled, pulling him into a bear hug. When the giant set him down, he said "How've ya been?" And, without waiting for an answer, he hugged James once more and said "I remember when your dad firs' came to Hogwarts, an' I called him over, I did, an' I brought him to the school for the firs' time. An' now I'm getting ta do the same ta you!" He started getting teary-eyed.

James turned to us and said, "This is Hagrid. He's a family friend of ours, and he teaches at Hogwarts." The man named Hagrid smiled, and, remembering he had a job to do, continued shepherding first years into a group.

Once we were all present, we followed Hagrid and his lantern on a narrow path that lead through a forest. It was already dark out, and the forest was pretty creepy. A few times we would hear the noise of something scuttling through bushes. "Maybe it's a unicorn." I said with a smirk.

"Or a centaur," Theresa added.

"You'd be surprised o' all the creatures that live in these forests." Hagrid answered. Then "OK e'rybody, yeh'll get your firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a second." The path curved and we all stood in awe at what we saw before us. Across a giant black lake, stood a huge castle! It was definitely the most awesome thing I have seen in my whole life. Boats were set up obviously to have us ride across, and the four of us, along with our soon-to-be class mates started climbing in. Theresa, Mark, and James followed in after a small Indian boy. I was about to get in when Hagrid stopped me. "On'y four to a boat." After exchanging looks with them, I climbed into the last boat with only two other kids.

I sat down, and offered a smile to my company, just as the boats started moving towards the castle on their own. The other two kids in the boat were an Asian girl with long black hair, who was sitting cross-legged, staring at her nails, and a boy with perfect blonde hair, who was also sitting with his legs crossed. "Hey," I said.

The girl glanced up from her nails to look at me. She looked really annoyed, which led me to believe she wasn't happy with the seating arrangements either. "You're obviously not pureblood."

"What?" I said, a bit defensively.

"You're obviously not from around here, and from the looks of you, you're probably muggle-born." I didn't see how she could tell that just from how I looked.

"It's nice to meet you too! I seriously hope we're in the same house so we can talk _all_ the time!" I said with my best sarcastic smile. If she wanted to be like that, I guess there was nothing i could do about it.

The boy spoke up "I'm Trauncy." (I suppressed a giggle).

"So what house do you wanna be in?" I asked. Trauncy said he didn't have a preference, and he was just going to sit back, and let the sorting hat do its job. At this point, the girl interrupted, saying that _obviously she _was going to be put into Slytherin, because of her pureblood line. She also didn't fail to leave out how I would probably be in Hufflepuff, because I wouldn't be able to live up to normal, _pureblood_ wizarding standards.

Already fed up with her, I turned and looked over the edge of the boat, into the water. If only it wasn't so dark outside! I put my hand in the water, longingly wishing to go for a swim. I wondered if students were allowed to swim in the lake. I was moving my hand across the surface of the water, watching the ripples it made, when something brushed up against my hand. "Woah!" I said, yanking my hand back.

Trauncy stood up, asking "What is it?"

"Something touched my hand," I answered, leaning over the edge of the boat to try and get a closer look. What happened next, probably took a whole of five seconds, but time seemed to be moving in slow motion. Trauncy, following my lead, stood up and started coming over to look. _But_, apparently the wooden built-in seats were too much for Trauncy; he tripped over one of them, which sent him flying into me, knocking us both off the edge of the boat.

When the initial shock of the moment passes, and I found myself underwater. It was really dark, but the moonlight was shining through the water just enough to illuminate the outlines of some shapes moving around. I was instantly fascinated, and wished for more light so I could go exploring. Just imagine the creatures that could be living in a _magical lake! _I suddenly remembered that I needed to breathe, so I surfaced, and heard the murmur of the other kids wondering what the heck just happened.

I looked around for Trauncy, but didn't see him. Then a few feet away, I saw a disturbance in the water. It was Trauncy, who clearly couldn't swim. He was flailing around, trying to stay above water. I swam over to him, and tried to grab him, but he fought back at me in a panic. "Trauncy! Stop- Trau- STOP IT!" Fighting was useless, and would just waste time. I grabbed his arms, and tried to keep him still so he could get air. I was suddenly immensely glad of the fact that I was a strong swimmer, which was something I usually took for granted. Finally, Trauncy stopped freaking out. "Thanks," he said, breathlessly.

I helped him swim back to the boats, which had magically paused in their advance to the castle. The girl in our boat grudgingly helped us in, but I could tell it was only because everyone was watching.

When we sat back down, both soaked, Trauncy started complaining about how he was all wet and his hair was ruined. Theresa and I exchanged the same look from across the water, making me laugh out loud. This was going to be a _very_ interesting year.

A/N: Only 2 reviews…. *sigh* I might have to take this story down if we don't get enough reviews. So advertise, guys! Tell your friends! I know there's not really an actual plot yet, but don't worry as soon as we get the technical stuff out of the way, the real story will be starting soon. So review!


	11. Theresa The Sorting Part 1

Theresa- The Sorting, Part 1

When I heard a splash, I knew Alex would be involved. Sure enough, when I looked over the side of the boat, she was a few yards behind, looking extremely content. The other boy she fell in with, not so much. He was floundering about so much I wondered if he had ever swam before in his life. However, when I looked at Alex, the song "Under The Sea" from the little mermaid started playing in my head. She swam over to the other kid and tried to help him, but he looked like he was trying to strangle her. When they finally made it into their own boat, I caught Alex's eye with a "you would be the first to try to swim in the creepy looking lake at night" look, and we both started cracking up.

"Are we suppoosed to do dat, too?" asked the other boy in my boat, with a heavily Indian-accented English. "Is dat a coostum here in England?" Well, at least we weren't the only ones not from England.

"Uh... no, mate. The Great Lake isn't really here for swimming purposes," James responded.

"Oh. Well dat is a relief. I did not want to get all wet and clammy before de Sorting."

I laughed. "Yea, me neither. I'm Theresa, by the way. And that's James, and that's Mark."

"Hello, my name is Sinjin." We chatted for a little bit longer, and it became clear that Sinjin was not acquainted to English customs. We started to quiet down as we neared the castle though, it's giant form looming above us. Finally, we exited the boats and were herded to the entrance by Hagrid, where the guys I met up with Alex again.

"You just couldn't resist, could you?" I teased her about her swimming experience. Amazingly, she didn't seem that wet, or at least not compared to that other kid, who was shivering and complaining a little bit away.

She grinned. "Well, it's been a good 48 hours since I last went swimming. But this wasn't even my fault. It was that kid. His name's Trauncy. He started complaining about his hair being messed up as soon as we got out." I laughed but didn't have time to respond, since we were now being lined up alphabetically by a lady who looked to be getting on in her years.

"Alright students, my name is Professor McGonagall, and I am the Headmistress. Now, I want no talking and no nonsense while we get you organized. Once you are all lined up, I will lead you into the Great Hall where you will be lined up and Sorted one by one." She then called out our name's, and luckily I was next to Alex. Which means I would be Sorted right before her. We marched into the Great Hall, and I suddenly understood why it was called that.

The room was enormous, with four long tables lined up, already filled up with students, and another long table up on a raised dais, that I assumed was the teacher's table. Hundreds of feet above us, candles _floated_ in mid-air, underneath a ceiling enchanted to look like the night sky. All eyes were on the first years, until one of the teachers walked out carry a stool with a beat up old witch's hat on it.

Then the hat started talking. It sang us a lovely ditty about the founding of the four houses, how each was named after one of the Hogwarts founders; Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. The whole time I couldn't help but think of the little narrator person's hat on Mario Party 8 for Wii. When his song ended, the whole room burst into applause. Professor McGonagall walked up to the podium in front of the teacher's table and cleared her throat. It was time for the Sorting to begin.

"Askar, Roger."

He walked down the aisle like as if he had just woken up from a nap, groggy-looking and kind of slow. As if there was no pressure in being the first one of us to be Sorted. He placed the hat on his head and sat down on the stool, looking like he could stay there all day. Unfortunately for him, the hat was only on his head for a few seconds before the tear (that I could only assume was it's mouth) opened and screamed out, "Gryffindor!" The table at the far left of the hall burst into cheers, as Roger walked calmly over and took a seat between some older kids who started patting him on the back.

"Belsin, Lawrence."

The process repeated itself with Lawrence, except this time the hat screamed "Hufflepuff!" almost as soon as it touched his head. Lawrence jogged his way over to the second table in from the right, who were cheering for him, and found himself a seat.

"Baker, Loyal." Her name was Loyal Baker? Interesting. I glanced at Alex and we both started giggling. Loyal was the last person ahead of me.

"Hufflepuff!" Lawrence's table started applauding again. I suddenly got butterflies in my stomach as I realized it was my turn.

"Carver, Theresa." I started singing myself a song in head to calm my nerves as I walked down the aisle, all eyes on me. _I got the magic in me, I got the magic baby! _Appropriate lyrics, though I don't actually like rap. I reached the stool and put the hat on my head. It was way too big and fell way past my eyes.

_Oh, well this is a no brainer. _The hat's voice spoke inside my head. I don't know how else to describe it, but it was if it was communicating directly to my thoughts. _She's your ancestor, so it's gotta be..._

"Ravenclaw!" I took off the hat and placed it back on the stool, and walked to the table between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff that had erupted in cheers. I took a seat amongst people clapping and high-fiving me. I laughed and smiled, but kept thinking about what the hat had said. "She's your ancestor." What did that mean? Oh well, I turned my attention back to the front of the room when Alex's name was called, though I knew she would be in Ravenclaw. She had to be. We had to stick together.

"Devon, Alexandra." Alex walked up and put on the hat. Then she sat. And sat. A good 15 seconds went by before the hat opened it's mouth, whereas everyone else's decision had been made almost instantaneously. Finally, he shouted out her house.

"Gryffindor!"

Crap.


	12. Alex The Sorting Part 2

Alex- Sorting, Part 2

I was standing in line with the other first years, waiting to be sorted. I watched as three other kids (I'll call us kids, even though we're teenagers) were sorted, and then it was Theresa's turn. It was funny watching the way each of them walked up. The first boy, Roger, walked up like he would really rather be sleeping. And the next two just looked scared. Now that I was thinking about it, it was rather nerve wracking. What if we got sorted into a bad house? Oh well. As I watched Theresa walk up (she walked with an almost inconspicuous swing in her step, like she was walking to the beat of a song), I told myself that it wouldn't matter what house I was in; I was going to be myself, and the people around me would just have to deal with it. So, when Theresa was sorted into Ravenclaw, I walked with confidence towards the Sorting hat, and took my seat on the stool.

Profesor McGonagall placed the hat on my head; it fell past my eyes, and the thought of head lice inevitably slipped into my head. Just when I was beginning to wonder how this would take, a voice- presumably the hat's- started talking in my head. _Aaah, aren't you an interesting one._ What is that supposed to mean? _Don't worry, it's not a bad thing._ Great. I came to the conclusion that the hat could read my mind, and I began feeling creeped out. _Hey! _The hat said, _I'm only doing my job. _Ok, that was it, I wanted my thoughts back to myself. _Alright, Alright! To the sorting! You've got intelligence, I see, but aren't very good at solving puzzles, so Ravenclaw is out. Hufflepuff? _I hoped he would steer away from that idea. _Ok, fine. You're loyal, but not true Hufflepuff material anyway. Slytherin? You're cunning, I see, but.. _he paused. _Nah. Gryffindor? Bravery, yeah you've got that, and.. _At that moment I felt the weirdest sensation I've ever felt. If I had to guess, I would say that the hat gasped, but I didn't think hats could do that. On the other hand, I didn't think hats could talk, either. O_oooh, didn't see that one coming. _Without further explanation, the hat shouted "Gryffindor!"

When the hat was lifted from my head, I was really annoyed that he didn't care to explain further. But when the table next to the one Theresa sat down at erupted into cheers, my face spread into a grin. I wasn't in Hufflepuff or Slytherin! I got into one of the two that I wanted, and these people were actually cheering for me (I knew it didn't really mean anything-they would cheer for anyone- but it still felt good). My only regret was that i wasn't in the same house as my best friend. Hopefully that doesn't mean we won't be able to spend time with each other.

I walked over to the Gryffindor table, and sat next to the boy Roger, who was sorted first. "Welcome to the Gryffindor house," said a boy across the table and a little down. "I'm Teddy." Teddy was also very good-looking, but was probably about 18 or 19.

"I'm Alex." I said, establishing my nickname.

Teddy pointed to the girl who was now being sorted. When I looked, I saw that it was the girl from the boat: "Evans, Elizabeth". "What house do you reckon she'll be sorted in?" He said to the people around him.

A girl sitting next to him said, "she looks like a Ravenclaw." A few others nodded their heads.

"Probably Slytherin," I said. And sure enough, only a few seconds after the had was placed on her head, it called out "Slytherin!"

"Nice job, rookie," Teddy said. As he looked at me, he seemed to notice something, and asked "Are you.. umm.. wet?"

I laughed. "Yeeeah. I sorta fell in the lake. Well technically, a boy tripped and fell into me, and we both fell in."

Roger added "and the kid couldn't even swim."

Teddy looked intrigued. "What happened?"

I told him I helped him back into the boat. Then I realized the simplicity with which I said it made the whole thing seem anticlimactic, so I added "it was pretty intense," with my best "cool" head nodding. Teddy smirked, and a boy a few places down laughed out loud. Was i doing it? Was i actually entertaining people? A warm feeling swept over me as it seemed like for once I was actually being accepted for being me.

"So, where are you from?" When I told him I was from America, the heads of other Gryffindors turned towards me. Teddy said "I didn't think Hogwarts took kids from the States. Are you part of a wizarding family that lives over there?"

"Nah. I'm muggle-born." As I said it, a sudden thought struck me. _Was_ I muggle born? I thought about my father, who died before I was born. Could he have been a wizard? I made a mental note to ask my mom next time I got a chance.

I watched the next few kids get sorted- two boys into Slytherin, and another into Hufflepuff- while we guessed which house they would be in. They based their guesses on the way each first year walked (I laughed when that came up), their hair style, and their expressions. I asked which house they guessed I would be in, and the girl next to Teddy said "We figured you would be in Gryffindor, because you seemed more confident than the others. Except for Roger; he thought you'd be in Slytherin."

I turned to Roger and raised my eyebrows. "I decided to go out on a limb," was his explanation. I laughed, and turned with my fellow Gryffindors to finish watching the sorting.


End file.
